Drumhead

ABSTRACT

A head of a drum or similar kind of musical instrument comprising a synthetic plastic sheet material containing surfaces with variegated color shadings to give the texture and appearance of a natural animal skin. A method of manufacture of the improved drumhead including the steps of fine sanding to produce minor surface scratches, and intensive sanding to produce deeper scoring or gouges in the top and bottom surfaces of the head. A coating of resin is applied to the surfaces and collects within the scratched and gouged areas to produce the variegated characteristics of a natural skin and manipulate the surface structure to provide vastly improved sound.

This application is a continuation in part of Ser. No. 08/848,216, filedApr. 29, 1997.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to drums and similar musicalinstruments and, more particularly, to a head for a drum and a methodfor improving the sound and appearance of the drumhead.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Drumheads of various types and materials are well-known in the priorart. U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,782 to Harty contains an informative discussionon the subject. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,091,248 and 5,581,044 to Belli are alsopertinent to the technology.

Laminated drumheads, which are comprised generally of adhesively bondedsheets of synthetic fabric and plastic materials, are employed largelyin conjunction with tom-toms and snares. Rarely are laminated heads usedto produce a timpani drum, which is used primarily in an orchestralsetting often joined by over one hundred other string, wind andpercussion instruments. The laminate head simply does not produce thedegree and quality of resonance and warm, rich and full sound requiredof a drum of this type in a symphonic setting.

Timpani heads are usually comprised either of a single plastic sheetmaterial, such as MYLAR®, or ideally of a natural animal skin. A timpanihead must vibrate sufficiently to produce the quality and volume ofsound required to be an effective percussion instrument in a largeorchestra. Plastic heads have their drawbacks as they do not resonatesufficiently or produce a full enough sound to perform at optimum levelsin an orchestral setting. These heads are not susceptible to properpitch control and consistently suffer from sound decay. They also have acharacteristic plastic or “clicking” sound that many musicians,particularly timpanists, find distracting and unappealing. Laminatedrumheads, principally because of the nature and complexity of theirdouble layered construction, simply do not vibrate or resonateadequately enough to produce the desired timpani sound. They act as apoor substitute for a natural animal skin head.

Plastic drumheads may also include slightly roughened surfaces. Butthese surfaces constitute only mere umperfections in the material. Theseslight projections and depressions, when they appear, are inherent inthe material and are not placed there intentionally for the purpose ofachieving a specific look or sound.

In the rare instance where a drumhead surface is intentionally givensome degree of texture, it occurs for the sole purpose of enabling thedrummer to produce a shuffling or scratchy sound as the drumstick orbrush is made to move along the head surface. Improved sound quality orappearance, such as a more natural look, is not the objective in theseinstances.

Absolutely nothing in the prior art has succeeded in creating asynthetic head to ideally match the sound qualities and appearance of anatural skin. Animal skins produce a more sophisticated, resonant sound,particularly in the lower ranges, which drummers of all disciplinesgenerally prefer. The sounds are rich and warm and decidedly focused andthe pitch is more centered. Pitch control is much easier with drumheadsfashioned from animal skin. However, animal skins are much more costlythan synthetic heads. Skins also have a tendency to absorb moisture,which can have a dramatically negative effect on the quality of thesound and the pitch produced by the drumhead. Depending on the climate,the humidity condition(s) and the extent of any moisture absorbed by thehead, the sound generated by a head comprised of natural skin willdiffer from one location to another, often substantially.

The present invention solves the foregoing problems in the prior art byemploying a relatively less expensive head comprised of only a singlesheet of plastic material, which is fashioned carefully to produce ahead that has the look and sound of a head made from a genuine skin. Theplastic sheet material employed by the present invention is roughened upon both sides with various grits of sandpaper or emery cloth to controlthe depth and breadth of the texture and then coated with a resin. Theresin coats the surfaces of the head and collects in the scratched andgouged areas produced by the sanding process. The areas where the resincollects tend to produce shades with varying intensity, giving the headthe characteristics and appearance of an authentic skin. The improvedhead produces more resonance and has significantly more overtones thananything preceding it in the prior art. It also has the appearance of agenuine animal skin without any of the major disadvantages. A method ofmanufacture of the improved drumhead is also provided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The improvement of the present invention provides a head of a drum or asimilar kind of musical instrument comprising a synthetic plastic sheetmaterial, which contain s a surface with variegated color shadings togive the texture, character and appearance of a natural animal skin. Thediverse shading effect is achieved through a process of sanding orroughing up the head surface with an emery cloth or any other suitablesandpaper—like material. Fine sanding generally produces minor surfacescratches, while a more intense sanding using more pressure and acoarser grade of cloth or paper will produce deeper scoring or gouges inthe surfaces of the head. A coating of resin, preferably epoxy oracryllic, is applied to the surface and collects in a more concentratedfashion within the scratched and gouged areas of the surface. The deeperand/or wider the scratch or gouge, the more resin is collected and thedarker the shading in that particular area or spot. It is these specificshading variations of the drumhead surface that give the head thecharacteristic look of a natural animal skin. It is the distortion ofthe head, brought about by this specific manipulation of its structure,that gives the head the improved sounds that are more resonant, fullerand richer, with more overtones and pitch control, than the syntheticheads in the prior art. The present invention also provides a method ofmanufacture of the improved drumhead, including the steps ofembellishing the top and bottom surfaces of a sheet of syntheticmaterial comprising the head by forming a plurality of scratches andgouges, which vary in size and depth, and applying a resin to thesurfaces to coat them and fill in the various depressed areas to achievegenerally flat and even surfaces with the overall realistic appearanceand sound of a natural animal skin.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide asynthetic drumhead that has the appearance of a natural animal skin.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a syntheticdrumhead that contains the more sophisticated sound producing qualitiesof a natural animal skin.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a single sheetof plastic material comprising a drumhead with the appearance and soundqualities of a natural animal skin.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a syntheticdrumhead which enables the improvement of the tonal, tactile and visualqualities of the drumhead.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a syntheticdrumhead that is easy, efficient and relatively inexpensive tomanufacture.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method ofmanufacture of the drumhead of the present invention.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method ofmanufacture of a drumhead from a single sheet of synthetic material thathas the appearance and sound producing qualities of a natural animalskin without the usual drawbacks of a genuine skin.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent in the following specifications when considered in light of theattached drawings wherein the preferred embodiment of the invention isillustrated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention shown in theprocess of being sanded.

FIG. 2 is a perspective sectional view of the present invention showingmore prominently in highly magnified form the textured surface areasproduced by the sanding process using a relatively fine grade of emerycloth or sandpaper.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectioned view of the present invention depicting thetop surface of the plastic material after sanding with a relatively finegrade of paper and the bottom surface of the material after sanding witha coarser grade of paper.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the present invention showing theresin-coated surface and the resin collected in various amounts withinthe top and bottom textured surfaces of the material.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the improved drumhead of the presentinvention attached to and framed within a counterhoop.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the present invention shown along lines6—6 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring more particularly to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a perspectiveview of the present invention comprised initially of a single sheet ofmaterial 12 made of plastic, such as MYLAR®, from which a drumhead 10 isformed. Sheet material 12 includes various scratched 15 a or gouged 15 bsections 15 formed within the surfaces 16, 17. These roughened areas ofsurfaces 16, 17 are produced using different grades of emery cloth 14 orsome other suitable material for sanding, such as, for example, actualsand paper. Surfaces 16, 17 are initially sanded with a fine grit ofemery cloth 14, for example a grit measured at 320 microns. Ifappropriate and desirable, a more coarse grit of emery cloth, forexample 60 microns can be used to form a series of deeper scratches orgouges in the material. For standard drumheads where the darkness of theshade is not as significant the top surface 16 and bottom surface 17 arenormally sanded using only a finer grade of cloth or paper such as, forexample, a 320 micron grit.

Generally, a coarse cloth or sandpaper will create a deeper penetrationinto the surface of the plastic and, consequently risk a weakening ofthe material. Thus, in order to achieve the desired level of shadingwithin the head surface and maintain sufficient strength in thematerial, different grits of cloth or sand paper may be employed on thetop and bottom surfaces. Thus, for timpani heads, where color shadings,particularly darker tones, are more desirable to give a richer and evenmore natural skin appearance, a 320 micron grit paper may be employed tosand the top surface 16 of the head and a coarser 60 micron grit papermay be employed to sand the bottom surface 17.

Epoxy resin 18 or any other similarly suited material, such as anacryllic, is applied as a coating on surfaces 16, 17 and collects withinthe scratched and gouged areas 15 in a manner that results in a diversepattern of color shadings. Shallow scratches collect less resin and,thus, tend to look lighter in shade as more light is allowed to passthrough them. In contrast, deeper scratches or gouges tend to collectmore resin and, thus, appear darker shade. The resin that coats thesurface of the head is the lightest of the three. Resin collected withinthe sanded areas of the surface gives the appearance of naturalimperfection, creating a variety of contrasting characteristics andshades relative to each other and to the resin coating the surface.Thus, the variegated look of the drumhead simulates the appearance of anatural animal skin.

Various thicknesses of plastic sheet material may be employed with thepresent invention. Thinner sheets of material tend to be moretransparent. Medium thicknesses tend to be more translucent. Thickersheets are more opaque.

The method of the present invention includes the steps of sanding asheet of plastic material 12, such as MYLAR®, using various grits ofemery cloth 14 or some other suitable sanding material. The sanding isachieved by machine (not shown) or by hand 27. Initially, the surfaces16, 17 are lightly sanded over their entirety. Delicate sanding createsa slightly uneven head surface. This rough or textured conditioninterrupts surface tension in the material to produce a better overallvibration and sound from the drum. A coarser version of cloth 14 may beused to create a rougher and more highly textured surface 17. Resin 18is employed to coat the top surface 16 and the bottom surface 17. Theresin is then allowed to cure. A counterhoop 19 is attached to give thehead 10 strength, tension and form.

In applying the resin 18 to the surfaces 16, 17 using the method of thepresent invention, different amounts of the resin tend to collect in thescratched and gouged areas depending upon the width of the area formedand the depth of the particular depression. Shallow scratches and gougescollect less resin and, thus, are lighter in their appearance givingthem a greater degree of transparency. Deeper scratches and gouges tendto collect more resin and, thus, are darker in their appearance and moreopaque. The overall effect, including the diverse pattern of shadings,interspersed over and within the textured surfaces 16, 17 of the head10, gives the characteristic appearance of a natural animal skin.

As with natural skin, drumhead 10 emboding the present invention is moresusceptible to a controlled pitch. The head vibrates in a manner similarto a natural skin and creates a similar rich, warm and resonating sound.It also engenders a similar degree of overtones. The plastic headsemployed in the prior art lack these characteristics and abilities andfail to produce the sophisticated kind of full sound necessary tocompliment and compete with the quality and level of sounds produced bya symphonic orchestra.

The present invention can be employed as a timpani head in combinationwith a large kettle drum of the type that performs with a symphonyorchestra. Drumhead 10 can also be used with tom-toms, snares, a bassand virtually any other type of musical drum played in a band or anorchestra.

While the invention will be described in connection with a certainpreferred embodiment, it is to be understood that it is not intended tolimit the invention to that particular embodiment. Rather, it isintended to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as maybe included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined bythe appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A head for a drum or similar musical instrumentcomprising a synthetic sheet material having a contact surface and abottom surface, and a plurality of depressed areas; in said contactsurface that do not penetrate through to the bottom surface and aplurality of depressed areas in said bottom surface that do notpenetrate through to the contact surface creating uneven areas of saidsurfaces, and a resin coating on said surfaces, said resin coating beingapplied to fill said depressed areas and cover said surfaces to formgenerally flat and even surfaces and variegated areas integrally relatedtherewith, said variegated areas possessing diverse light transmissivecapabilities according to the amount and thickness of said resin in saiddepressed areas to give the drumhead the appearance of a natural animalskin.
 2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said synthetic sheet materialis plastic.
 3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said synthetic sheetmaterial is transparent.
 4. The invention of claim 1 wherein saidsynthetic sheet material is translucent.
 5. The invention of claim 1wherein said synthetic sheet material is opaque.
 6. The invention ofclaim 1 wherein said depressed areas comprise a plurality of scratches.7. The invention of claim 1 wherein said depressed areas comprise aplurality of gouges.
 8. The invention of claim 1 wherein said depressedareas comprise a plurality of scratches and gouges.
 9. The invention ofclaim 1 wherein said resin coating comprises epoxy.
 10. The invention ofclaim 1 wherein said resin coating comprises acrylic.
 11. The inventionof claim 1 wherein said resin filled depressed areas are darker inappearance than the resin coated generally flat and even areas of saidsurfaces.
 12. A method of manufacture of a drumhead comprising the stepsof: a. sanding a sheet of synthetic material having a contact surfaceand a bottom surface to form a plurality of uneven depressed areaswithin said surfaces comprising a plurality of scratches and gougeswhich when formed do not penetrate from one said surface to the othersaid surface; and, b. applying a resin coating upon said top and bottomsurfaces to fill said scratches and gouges to form said surfaces thatare generally flat and even incorporating variegated areas of light anddark shades which vary according to the amount and thickness of saidresin coating in said scratches and gouges.
 13. The method ofmanufacture of claim 12 wherein said synthetic material comprisesplastic.
 14. The method of manufacture of claim 12 wherein said resincoating comprises an epoxy compound.
 15. The method of manufacture ofclaim 12 including the step of attaching a counterhoop to said sheet ofsynthetic material to provide tension and give a generally circularshape to the drumhead.
 16. A method of manufacture of a drumheadcomprising the steps of: a. forming a plurality of depressed areas inthe top and bottom surfaces of a sheet of synthetic material such thatsaid depressed areas do not penetrate from one said surface to the othersaid surface; and, b. applying a resin coating upon said top and bottomsurfaces to coat said surfaces and fill the depressed areas therein toachieve generally flat and even said surfaces and variegated areas oflight and dark shades, which vary according to the amount and thicknessof said resin coating in said depressed areas to give the drumhead theappearance of a natural animal skin.
 17. A head for a drum or similarmusical instrument comprising a synthetic sheet material having acontact surface and a bottom surface, and a plurality of depressions insaid contact surface and said bottom surface formed to create an unevensurface area within said surfaces, said plurality of depressionscomprising a variety of scratches and gouges that differ in depth andwidth, and, when formed, do not penetrate from one said surface to theother said surface, a resin coating being applied in varying thicknessesto fill said depressions and cover said contact and bottom surfaces tovary the intensity of the shades to simulate the appearance of a naturalanimal skin and improve the resonance character and quality of the drumsounds.
 18. A head for a drum or similar musical instrument comprising asynthetic sheet material having a contact surface and a bottom surface,and a plurality of depressions in said contact surface and said bottomsurface to create an uneven surface area, said plurality of depressionscomprising a variety of scratches and gouges that vary in depth andwidth, and that, when formed, do not penetrate from one said surface tothe other said surface, and a resin coating being applied, whereby theareas with the deeper configured depressions can accommodate relativelylarger amounts of resin material to become relatively less lighttransmissive and disposed to appear more dark in shade and the areaswith a relatively shallow configuration can accommodate smaller amountsof resin to become relatively more light transmissive and disposed toappear more light in shade, said combination of light and dark shadesdefined within said varying configurations having the appearance of adrumhead comprised of natural animal skin.